Random thoughts on dogs*

A dog is like a person only better.

Puppeh is another word for dog.

I've always wondered why dogs with their superior sense of scent always smell each other's bottoms directly instead of just sniffing nearby or elsewhere, and also how can some dogs find faeces an attractive meal? I know that dogs have scent glands under their tails. After watching a documentary from the BBC about the sense of smell I came up with a hypothesis.

Things that are harmful to humans to ingest such as off food, faecal matter, vomit, rotting flesh give off organosulfur compounds or sulfides in their scent. Our sense of smell is particularly sensitive to sulfides. Dogs can happily eat any of this stuff without much harm and sometimes to benefit because thier guts are designed to deal with it.

My hypothesis is that dogs are virtually insensitive to sulfides. They don't need to detect them, only the other parts of what make up the scent. By ignoring one note of the scent they can appreciate the finer nuaunces of a scent that make it unique.

Have you marvelled at the texture and form of your dog's nose? You can immortalise that in a silver pendant to treasure always. Clicky here.

*May be added to in future